Hi I'm new and grasping at straws to get my older boy to eat,
I have ~9 year old neutered male persian that I adopted a few months ago. I took him to the vet as soon as i got him to have a check up done. They ran a blood test, took Xrays, and said everything looked fine with the exception of 2 bumps on his body (weighted 8.81 lbs at that time). Do to all of the life changes he had experienced i thought it would be best to wait a while before getting them removed.

A few months later I took him in to have them reassess his bumps and he was down to 8.49 lbs. I made an appointment to have the bumps removed, and at that time he was down to 8.18 lbs. I decided against having the bumps removed since he has kept dropping weight.

He's a very happy, playful cat and is always purring. He always has clean water and plenty of Royal Canin Persian hard food. I've since changed him over to more canned food (fancy feast) but he eats at most 1 3/4 cans a day, but usually it's more like 1-1 1/4 cans. It is very disheartening that he has lost this much weight. I should also note that he has had problems with constipation. Any ideas how to get him to eat are welcomed, or maybe it's his lack of pooping that is the problem. Thank you reading.

I would take him back to the vet- weight loss coupled with constipation needs attention.

as Linda said, wt loss and poor appetite are warning signs... good luck,,

Welcome! And thank you for taking in an older cat.

Weight loss in older cats can be caused by a number of problems -- thyroid, diabetes, CRF, IBS, etc. I know you said you had bloodwork done, but vets may or may not run a thyroid values, which is where I'd start looking for answers. The second place I'd look is the people that you adopted him from and find out as much history as I could, especially about what he ate and this constipation issue.

In terms of getting him to eat more, yes, constipation can decrease eating and cause weight loss. You don't mention how constipated he is (details please), but there are two easy fixes. First, try mixing 1 tsp of canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling -- straight pumpkin) into his wet food. Pumpkin is excellent for adding fiber and stopping constipation. Second, you can use a hairball remedy 2-3 times a week. This is a second choice because most are mineral oil based which interfers with some nutrient absorption.

Another thing to do is try to increase the appeal of his food. You can top his wet food with various things such as Gerbers babyfood (the all meat varieties -- no vegies or onions), the juice from canned tuna/salmon/mackeral, bonita flakes, even powdered cat treats. Often a stronger smell will stimulate more eating.

You can also increase the calories of what food he is eating. Don't take this wrong, but Fancy Feast isn't the best food for calories per tablespoon. Go to a pet store and find some kitten food. Kitten food is higher calorie without a lot of filler. Alternatively, ask your vet for some Science Diet A/D or Iams Max Calorie -- both are great for helping add weight/maintain weight on sick or recovering cats. Another alternative is a product called NutriCal. It comes in a tube, like toothpaste, and is a high calorie dietary supplement. Put some on your finger and hopefully he'll lick it off.

Good luck and thanks again for giving him a new home!

Thanks for the replies, he does have another appointment next week. Hopefully he gains some weight by then.

He came from the humane society in my area and I do remember the soft food they were feeding him was far more aromatic then anything I've given him.

Regarding his constipation, the most he was ever plugged up for almost 3 days. The vet also suggested hairball remedy and pumpkin. I was ready to take him to the vet in but the petroleum jelly seemed to work because the next morning every litter box had something from him in it (5 boxes).

I think I'll try the other food options you've suggested and see how those go. Thanks again.

Welcome to the group and bless you for rescuing a senior kitty I wish you and your boy luck and good health!

Tomi